There is a fee of $100 for the trials, including all skills camps and tournament fees per athlete. That does not include food or accommodation, but Table Tennis North can help and secure the accommodation.

If successful, there will be an additional fee of $150 for the Team NT Table Tennis uniform, provided by Table Tennis North (each participant of the trials can purchase the set).

SIGN UP for the trials in sending the first name, last name, birthdate, community and contact e-mail/phone number to info@tabletennisnorth.ca by October 11th, 2018! Arrangements for accommodation can be made in Fort Providence at the school if a chaperone is present.

Dec

It has been another amazing year for Table Tennis in the Northwest Territories. Here are some of the highlights of 2017:

60 professional Table Tennis tables are now in our communities and see a lot of action.

15 communities have been engaged with Table Tennis.

Our “Elders in Motion” program has been a huge success and we were allowed to speak at the NWTRPA conference this year on bringing Elders, Kids and the communities together.

Readers’ Digest featured a full story on Table Tennis North, reaching across the country and beyond.

135 kids showed up to the 2017 Territorial School Championships.

Aurora Ford has become a major sponsor for Table Tennis North.

Table Tennis North has been back to the Canadian Table Tennis Championships since over 30 years and reached the Round of 32 in the Men’s Single event.

Thorsten was named Volunteer and Coach of the Year by the Territorial Sport Organization. He also received the Betty Tweedy Award by Table Tennis Canada and the Contributor to Sport award by Sport North.

Aurora Fraser and Tamara Jovic have been named the Team of the Year by Sport North.

Just some of our many highlights of this year. Every time going into a gym, cafeteria, class room or really anywhere where we find a Table Tennis Table, is a highlight. We are grateful for everyone that has been involved this year and we are excited looking forward to 2018 and the excitement that the Arctic Winter Games will bring.

31

Dec

It’s the last territorial champion-ship of the calendar year and was one which provided the most unlikely of results.

The NWT Table Tennis Championships were held at Weledeh and St. Pat’s Gymnasiums on Dec. 15 and 16 and Zachary Mathison of Weledeh Catholic School made sure people knew it doesn’t matter how old you are, but rather that you can play the game. And he did just that, winning the Grade 8 boys singles title. Not a big deal until you realize that Mathison is only in Grade 3. Mathison said it was a challenge, but nothing he couldn’t handle. “I wasn’t really nervous,” he said. “The kids were just bigger, that’s all.” They were a bit bigger this time because the eight-year-old won the Grade 6 boys title last year as a Grade 2 student, but thought he could pull it off again this year. “I had some easy matches, some hard matches,” he said.

Just for a challenge, Mathison decided to enter the high school event to play doubles with his older brother, Christopher, who goes to St. Pat’s, and they won that. “The doubles was a bit harder,” said the younger Mathison. “They hit a bit harder but I wasn’t nervous at all.”

Christopher Mathison went on to win the Grade 9-12 boys singles in the high school division to complete the family sweep, which helped St. Pat’s win the overall banner in that category. While Mathison was busy dom-inating Grade 8 students as an eight-year-old, there were other divisions up for grabs.

St. Joe’s ended up winning the overall championship in the junior division thanks in large part to Alex Ramsey, Raine Mingo and Gracie Brennan winning the Grade 6 boys and girls and Grade 7 girls singles titles respectively. Mingo and Ramsey teamed up to capture the Grade 6 doubles title, which helped the school lock up the banner in their first year competing as a team. The overall banners were decided based on an aggregate system where the total number of points earned by a school through its results was divided by the number of athletes a school brought to produce an average score.

Cory Taylor was the school’s coach and said it was a pretty good debut for the Huskies. “Eugene (Roach, phys-ed teacher) and I ran table tennis as part of the after-school program and we used that as our practice,” he said. “We had some kids picking up racquets for the first time and some who obviously knew what they were doing and so they were challenging Eugene and I for matches.”

Oct

Deh Gáh School in Fort Providence is hosting a Table Tennis skills clinic from November 11th until 13th. In addition we will be hosting a coaching & officials clinic on October 9th in preparation to the 2018 South Slave Arctic Winter Games. Table Tennis will be hosted in Fort Smith at JBT Elementary School from March 18-24th, 2018.

Timeline

Saturday, November 11th, 2017
Coaching & Officials clinic

Saturday till Monday, November 11th-13th, 2017
Skills Camp

Fee

$50 for food (Saturday to Monday)
$100 for two nights at the Snowshoe Inn (per person, limited space)

Accommodation & Food

Snowshoe Inn, Fort Providence, food will be provided at the school.
Possibility to stay at the school.

Table Tennis Rules

We will follow the rules of the International Table Tennis Federation. If you have any questions, please contact info@tabletennisnorth.ca and we will be happy to help you.

Oct

Once again we are happy to see our articles in The Minor Hockey News! Check out the articles “What’s been happening with Table Tennis in the Northwest Territories” and “2016, the Year of Table Tennis North’s Executive Director Thorsten Gohl.”

A fun read and you will be up to date on what is happening with Table Tennis in the NWT.

There is a $15 per category fee to participate in the tournament. That does not include accommodation and food for the weekend. You can participate in 2 categories, 1 single, 1 double.

Accommodation & Food

If you like to stay at the school, please contact us.

Table Tennis Rules

Depending on participants, we will play best out of 3 or best out of 5. We will follow the rules of the International Table Tennis Federation. If you have any questions, please contact info@tabletennisnorth.ca and we will be happy to help you.

Deadline for registration is December 1st 2017. For registration, please send and e-mail to info@tabletennisnorth.ca with the following information: First Name, Last Name, Community, Birth Date and mention what categories you want to participate in (max. 2 categories). Also, please let us know if you want to stay at the school.

If you have any more questions, please contact info@tabletennisnorth.ca. Thank you! We are looking forward to seeing you in Yellowknife, December 15th, 2017.

Oct

Paul Noel is from Belgium. He began playing Table Tennis at the age of six and by 11-years-old had joined a club. He did well through competition and would go on to obtain a Master’s in Physical Education and become a professional coach, after working his way up from an assistant coach.

He’s been involved in Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Saskatchewan as a coach and has enjoyed his time giving back to the sport.

Table Tennis, Noel states, is a great way to build skills as children grow and develop: everything from agility, balance, coordination, catching, throwing, hitting, running, and jumping within the game. It also develops youths’ dexterity and focus as they utilize hand-eye coordination to return an opponents’ hit.

Paul was probably the youngest coach winning the European Cup during his 4 years in the German Bundesliga with TTC Jülich in the 90’s. He reached the cup final 4 times and won it 3 times during that time. Paul is since 2011 in Canada and the head coach for Table Tennis Saskatchewan, being the coach for gold medal winning Alayna Chen in the Senior Women Doubles category at the Canadian Championships.

We are very excited to have Paul in the Northwest Territories! Welcome!

29

Sep

Table Tennis North took part in the NWTRPA and Youth Centres’ Conference in Inuvik, September 28th, 2017.

“We love being part of events like this” says Thorsten Gohl, who was sharing information about the growth and excitement of Table Tennis joining the North Sports Association and presenting “Table Tennis for Elders program” at the Bright Spot session of the conference. It’s a program that the Territorial Sport Organization has been hosting since 2016. The Bright Spot Presentations are about things that organizations and communities are doing well, celebrating innovation and success!

Thorsten was definitely excited about this, “This is my first time in Inuvik!! It is so great coming together with communities all over the North!! Sport events are supported by the communities and we are also here to support the communities of the North. We have the similar ideas and definitely the same goals; participation, health, growth, fun and showcasing the communities!! we are a sport that is not competing with other sports, but complimenting them, helping create role models, bringing youth and elders together, bringing our communities together and having alot of fun while doing it.”

The NWTRPA was pleased to host Table Tennis North to present at our Bright Spot plenary at this year’s conference in Inuvik. The Bright Spots session focused our attention to how organizations and communities are making a difference in NWT communities, how they got their start, and tips for success. Table Tennis North showcased how their programs are building connections in our communities, building confidence in our youth, and allowing for lots of fun!

About Table Tennis North

As a not-for profit organization we support, promote and develop an active, healthy and playful environment with the sport of Table Tennis in the Northwest Territories.

About NWTRPA

The NWT Recreation and Parks Association works with communities across the NWT to promote healthy living through active recreation.

26

Sep

“This is exciting. We have done a lot of ground work in the last two years in the Northwest Territories, bringing our sport into 14 communities and now having 60 professional Table Tennis tables in the communities. Imagine what we can do with the partnership!” says Marny Twigge, the Vice President of Table Tennis North.

The Northern Ford dealership will provide the Table Tennis Association with a Ford F150 for the next two years. This is a huge milestone for the Territorial Sport Organization, being able to reach more communities with clinics, workshops and regular check ins.

Lee Cawson, VP Operations, Aurora Group, said: “We are very excited to be able to support Table Tennis North and do whatever we can to work with Thorsten to continue to bring these types of activities and events to our Northern communities and youth. The energy and passion that Thorsten brings to Table Tennis North fits in perfectly with our energy and passion at Aurora Ford both in Hay River and Yellowknife.”

We are looking forward to more amazing stories and images to share from our Northern Communities, now with our Aurora Ford F150 on the road!

About Table Tennis North

As a not-for profit organization we support, promote and develop an active, healthy and playful environment with the sport of Table Tennis in the Northwest Territories.

About Aurora Ford

The Aurora Group of Companies serves a wide range of automotive and industrial customers throughout the NWT. Aurora encompasses two Ford dealerships, one in Hay River & one in Yellowknife. A heavy truck franchise, recreational vehicle department, tank manufacturing and fabrication facility, automotive body shop, Esso service station, Budget Rent a car facilities and service locations at local Diamond Mines.

At Aurora Ford & Group of Companies, we are committed to putting our customers first which is why we are the leading dealer in the NWT. We are always proud to support our North and its organizations. Same Great People, Same Great Service, Same Northern Commitment